


Falling for You

by ConstellationStation



Series: Freezerburn Week 2020 [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Bad Jokes, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Freezerburn Week 2020, and by that I mean there are grimm, many grimm were harmed in the making of this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22853743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConstellationStation/pseuds/ConstellationStation
Summary: Day 1: Ice SkatingWeiss has a unique way of moving on the battlefield. Yang tries to learn to keep up.  For combat-related reasons, of course. Certainly not Weiss’s brilliant smile when she teaches her to skate, or when she holds her hand to steady her, or the way she laughs when Yang slips.
Relationships: Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Series: Freezerburn Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642972
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	Falling for You

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Freezerburn Week!! This is my first time contributing to a ship week and unfortunately I hadn't been able to finish all the works beforehand like I intended ;(  
> I might not do the whole week or just post late? idk yet but for now let's see where this goes
> 
> Disclaimer: I have no ice skating experience beyond a quick wikihow search. Also Weiss's heels are too Gucci to obey the laws of physics

Team RWBY stands before the towering trees of the Emerald Forest.

“Alright, team,” Ruby exclaims, pumping an energetic fist in the air, “we’ll split up for today’s training exercise. The person who gets to kill the most grimm in two hours wins!”

Blake and Yang voice their assent. Weiss is skeptical. “And how do we know exactly how many grimm the others have killed?”

“Honesty is the best policy!” 

“And happens when I just say a number that’s higher than yours and you can’t prove me wrong?”

“I’ll cry,” Ruby says, still smiling.

“And then I’ll have to punch you,” Yang tells her with a wink, more teasing than threatening.

“Also you won’t do that,” Ruby grins, regarding Weiss with wide eyes, “‘cause you’re a great person!”

Weiss backs away, flustered, “I - you - shut up, of course I am!” She crosses her arms, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a huff. “Just don’t forget to count, okay? It’s not lying if you’re too ditzy to keep a body count, but it would be unfair nonetheless.”

The others laugh at her expense, and on that note, they part ways into the forest.

* * *

Yang charges through the trees with a bang. Multiple bangs, actually. She uses the Dust rounds from Ember Celica to propel herself, the loud gunshots attracting grimm and warning her teammates to hunt elsewhere. 

Occasionally, she checks to make sure she isn’t starting any forest fires. Yang lands hard on a clearing, her boots dragging grooves in the dirt as she skids a few paces. She turns around to survey her path… yup, still good!

Branches snap somewhere to her left and she pivots to face it. A lumbering ursa steps into the clearing. She hears the continued sound of something dragging through the undergrowth even as the ursa prowls towards her in the dirt. Dropping into a fighting stance, she spares a glance to the trees, spotting the gleam of eyes like burning coal through the leaves.

There were at least two ursa trying to surround her while this one got her attention. These beasts were clever, a testament to how long they lived.

But not a few moments longer.

The ursa before her was slow in its approach. Yang launches herself at it by firing behind her, landing feet first on its snout, springing above it in time to dodge its swinging claws. She turns in midair, bringing her armored fist crashing down with her full weight behind it. The ursa’s bony plate shatters on impact and an explosive round from Ember Celica finishes it off. Nineteen.

She hops away from the dissolving grimm. Spinning quickly on her heel, she catches an ursa’s claw as it tried to sneak up on her. “Gotcha!” Holding on to the claw with one hand, she dashes behind it, shooting the back of its knee as she goes. The grimm buckles with a cry, falling to the ground on its belly. 

As it flops down, Yang sees the third ursa charging at her from the front. “Can’t wait your turn?” She leaps backwards, firing at the fallen ursa to propel her jump. It cries out, but doesn’t die yet. The other one skirts around its injured brethren. It rears on its hind legs, roaring as it swipes its meaty claws at her. Yang ducks under its attack, punching it in the stomach and uppercutting its jaw as it doubles over. Its neck snaps back with a sharp crack. Twenty.

“Your next,” she tells the remaining ursa. Limping, it snarls at her in defiance. She’s about to finish it off when heavy footsteps sound behind her. 

A fourth ursa? 

She whirls towards it, hopping backwards, but the beast charges, closing the distance between them and sending her tumbling away with a swipe of its paw. She lands before the injured ursa, who takes the opportunity to pounce. Yang scrambles to her feet in time to block its blow with crossed gauntlets. In her periphery, the other ursa prepares another attack.

She had to end this fast.

Gathering her strength, she shoves aside the ursa’s claws. It gets knocked off balance, its crippled leg giving away. With a yell, Yang delivers a flurry of punches and gunfire. The beast is reduced to ashes before it hits the ground. Twenty-one.

The final ursa charges at her, mouth full of dagger-like teeth agape. She meets the charge with open hands, catching it by the jaws. She digs her heels in the dirt as she heaves the large beast over her shoulder. It lands on its back with a ground shaking thump. The ursa’s startled cry is cut off by a fiery punch to the throat.

“Twenty-two!” Yang announces to no one in particular, prancing around the clearing. 

She wonders how the others are doing as she replaces the Dust cartridges in her weapon. 

A flash of motion catches her attention. Something dashes through the forest in the distance.

She runs after it.

Yang doesn’t fly by with Ember Celica this time, opting for just jogging after her quarry, which she identifies as a lone alpha beowulf. Strangely enough, it didn’t seem to notice her despite her lack of stealth.

Was it just her imagination or was the temperature dropping?

Yang’s feet slip from underneath her and she falls onto her butt. Her palms press against smooth, solid ice. “Gee, I wonder who did this?” She says loudly.

The sheet of ice stretches past the line of trees and to the clearing beyond. It might as well have been a neon sign that blared “WEISS WAS HERE.” Or perhaps even “Weiss IS here,” Yang looks around to see if her teammate was still in the area.

She instead finds the alpha beowulf she was tracking struggle to maintain its footing on the frozen earth.

“You too, huh?” Yang chuckles, legs unsteady as she tries to stand. 

The beast snarls at her. It tenses, preparing to leap, but as it does, its hind legs slip on the ice and it slides pathetically forward.

She cackles at its expense, but her laughter is cut short with a curse as the beowulf digs its razor claws into the ice and stalks its way towards her.

Unfortunately, Yang’s boots don’t offer her the same means of traction. “Shit,” she mutters, falling to her knees as she loses her balance.  
The beowulf prowls ever closer. Yang readies her gauntlets. 

She fires at the beast, the recoil sending her sliding backwards into the roots of a sturdy tree. The large grimm is barely fazed by a single shot and continues to advance. 

Yang scrambles to stand on the tree roots. The thick wood had been dusted with frost, but it had yet to become slippery. Now that she has something stable to brace herself with, she thinks with a smirk, the grimm was as good as dead.

The beowulf lunges at her, claws outstretched and fangs bared. She kicks off the trunk to meet it, metal gauntlet colliding with gleaming bone with a satisfying crunch. 

They're both knocked back from the impact. The beowulf slides across the ice while Yang lands again at the base of the tree. Using it as a springboard once more, Yang launches herself at her foe, propelled by Fire Dust. She finishes it off with a devastating blow, the grimm's bony plating and the ice beneath it shattering under the force.

As the beowulf dissipates, Yang bounces gracelessly off the ground and slips across the surrounding ice. She at least was able to twist so she lands on her shoulder rather than her face and slides the rest of the way on her back.

Twenty-three, she thinks idly, staring up at the sky.

She comes to an abrupt halt as there is suddenly pressure on the top of her head and her view of the sky is interrupted by a bemused face framed by snow white hair.

"Having fun?" Weiss teases.

Yang responds with teasing of her own. "Stepping on me, Ice Queen?"

She's rewarded with a sharp kick to the head. "What kind of- ! You oaf!"

Yang cackles while nursing her headache. "Sorry, I was just trying to break the ice," she gestures towards the spot where she'd killed the alpha beowulf.

"You are the absolute worst."

Yang tries to get up, to no avail. "Err… little help here?"

"Whatever," Weiss scoffs, offering her hand.

Her grip is firm as she pulls her up. While Yang's feet threatens to slip from beneath her, Weiss remains steady. Mercifully, she doesn't let go.

"How can you stand still like that?"

Weiss puffs out her chest, "the secret is poise."

She squeaks in surprise as Yang shoves her to the ground.

She barely had a second to make fun of her before Weiss sweeps her legs out from under her. Yang once again lands painfully on her butt. Weiss is up and skating circles around her before she can even get her bearings.

"Seriously," she exclaims, pointing at Weiss's heels, which, if anything, should be less suitable for ice than her own boots, "how?!"

Weiss rolls her eyes, "I told you, poise. And practice of course."

"Help me up again?"

Weiss gives her a flat expression.

"Please," she flashes her most charming smile, throwing in a wink for good measure.

Weiss pulls her up again, this time quickly letting go off her hand and stepping away from her.

Yang is left to wobble on her own.

"So," she says, arms outstretched for balance, "mind teaching me that poise of yours?"

"Or I could just get rid of the ice," Weiss offers, unsheathing Myrtenaster.

“Nah, I think I’d like to learn to ice skate,” Yang tells her, playing it off casually.

Weiss tilts her head curiously, “Why?”

“Well,” Yang drawls, pinwheeling her arms to keep upright, “you do this a lot whenever you fight, so we’d be able to do a lot more combo moves if I can fight with you, instead of around you.”

“Combo moves, eh,” Weiss taps her chin in thought, smile stretching into a grin, “I guess that would be pretty cool.”

“Isn’t it? Wait, was that a joke?”

“Yes it was,” she crosses her arms, “and it was good.”

“No, it wasn’t. But since I want you to teach me, I’ll pretend it was.”

“You could pretend more subtly!”

“Alright, alright,” Yang chuckles, “so where do we start?”

“You can start by actually finding your balance for once.” Weiss says, brushing her fingers lightly over Yang’s shoulder while her other hand held her elbow. “Bend your knees a bit and lean forward a little. Widen your stance- not too wide!”

Yang adjusts accordingly, and when Weiss steps back, her footing actually remains stable. “Hey, look, I’m doing it!”

“I’m so proud of you,” Weiss shakes her head, sarcasm softened by fondness. “Now try skating forward.”

Yang looks down at her feet, feeling as though if she moved, her hard fought balance would disappear. “How do I do that?”

“You put one foot in front of the other.”

“Wow, why didn’t I think of that,” she scoffs. She shifts her foot, already anticipating a fall.

To her surprise, Weiss slides next to her and takes her hand, “how about I walk you through it?”

“Skate me through it, you mean,” Yang snickers, relief making her cheeks oddly warm.

“Whatever,” she says, “ready?”

“Sure, so just… one foot in front of the other?”

“Yup,” she hums. Yang glances at her feet, but didn’t have the time to think much about what she’s doing as Weiss starts forward, her hand pressed against the small of her back to keep her moving.

She yelps, fumbling with her steps. Weiss is able to keep them both from falling as they skate around the clearing. Their makeshift ice rink was more expansive than Yang thought, with signs of struggle showing in the scratched surface and occasional spiky pillar. Still, they had plenty of room to move around in and Yang gets used to the motions after a couple of laps. All the while, Weiss held on to Yang’s hand and somewhere along the way, her other hand went from the small of her back to her waist.

They skate past a jagged wall of ice with a steep slope. Yang tries to imagine how Weiss could have used that in battle. She probably slid on it while stabbing grimm like a deadly ballerina. “Think we can try that?” She grins.

“Try skating on your own first.” Weiss promptly lets go of her.

“Hey!” Yang feels off-kilter at the sudden loss of contact, “Weiss!”

“What’re you yelling at me for?” Weiss meets her affronted expression with a dazzling smile, “you’re doing great.”

Yang blinks, realizing she is in fact, doing pretty well. Not as well as Weiss, obviously, who was skating backwards as she kept an eye on her, but she is able to glide smoothly forward. She wasn’t in danger of falling at all. She looks down at her feet as she skates along.

“Don’t make a habit of watching your feet, eyes up here!”

Yang glances up to see Weiss beaming at her. Her breath catches in her throat.

“Keep looking down and you’ll be sure to bump into things.”

“Says the girl skating backwards!”

“Ah, but I’m better than you.” With that, Weiss pirouettes, twirling around a column of ice that would have otherwise been in her way, and returning to Yang’s side in a wide arc. She’s smirking at her.

“Show off,” Yang scoffs, but her heart flutters.

Oh.

Oh no.

“Maybe it’s time you skate faster. Lift your foot as you glide, like this.” Weiss demonstrates. 

Yang might have been staring more at her legs than the movement. Maybe.

“Uh, like this?” Yang tries to imitate her, but finds herself nearly as unsteady as when she first started.

“Not quite. Here,” Weiss chuckles as she once again takes Yang’s hand in hers. “Try to keep up.”

Oh no no no.

Weiss is moving at a pace slightly faster than hers and Yang’s missteps weren’t helping. She catches her when she stumbles, ready with either snarky remarks or helpful advice. Yang is eventually able to pick up the pace. 

Soon enough, Yang is able to skim the ice, with speed and confidence, if not yet grace. Weiss isn’t holding her hand anymore, but there’s a different thrill to being able to keep up with and chase after her.

And should Yang ever come into terms with what could maybe definitely be a crush, it wouldn’t hurt to impress her either.

“Hey, Ice Queen, check me out!” 

Weiss twirls to a stop, seeing Yang speed up as she charges up a jagged slope. “Oh no.”

Yang readies Ember Celica for dramatic flair. She’s done similar jumps before, albeit usually tethered by Blake, but hopefully her new skating skill will make up for that loss. She dashes up the ramp, and when she nears its end, she fires her gauntlets, flying like she was launched from a slingshot.

“Yang!” Was that panic in Weiss’s voice?

She spins in mid-air to give her a charming wave. Weiss skates frantically after her. She looks at where she’s landing and sees the problem.

The gleaming spikes at the end of her trajectory told her that maybe the slope had been meant for grimm and not Weiss herself.

Oops.

With little else to do when she’s already hurtling through the air, Yang tries to punch through the ice. At the same time, Weiss reaches the base of the spikes and dissolves it.

Yang loses her balance as she throws her weight at nothing, the shot of Fire Dust obscuring her vision. 

Well, that could’ve gone better.

Shielding her face against the cinders, Yang doesn’t see what she’s crashing into until she hears a loud “oomph” and the next thing she knows, she and Weiss are sliding across the ice in a tangle of limbs, sparks and snowflakes raining down on them.  
“I’ll admit to trying to sweep you off your feet,” Yang says, scrambling off or her, “but this wasn’t what I had in mind.”

Weiss groans, “your joke fell flat.”

Before Yang could respond, loud beeping cuts her off. Weiss bolts upright as Yang’s alarm goes off as well.

“That’s the two hour mark,” horror dawns on Weiss’s face, “you distracted me with ice skating!”

“I distracted myself with ice skating!” Yang retorts, then winces. She knows how seriously Weiss takes competition. “I’m really sorry about that.” 

“Ugh, I don’t believe this!” Weiss jabs a finger at her, “how many grimm did you get?”

“Twenty-three.”

“I only got twenty-one…” she mutters numbly.

Yang pats her awkwardly on the back, “hey, that’s not so- ”

Weiss suddenly glares at her, eyes burning, “I’ll have you know one of them was a deathstalker, a really big one! I think we should take a qualitative approach when calculating the results, what say you?”

“Quali-! Look, Weiss, you obviously would’ve scored higher if I hadn’t come along and distracted you. Just say you got more, I won’t hold it against you.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose, “a generous offer, but I’ll have to decline.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she says, like it physically pains her to get the words out, “because I’m a great person.”

Yang claps her on the back with a hearty laugh, “the best.”


End file.
